milal essay

When asked the question, “Tell us about you”, the first thing that comes to my mind is my parents. I would tell you all about what my parents have sacrificed and endured in order to put me in the position I am in. They helped me by pushing me and motivating me throughout my life. They helped me shape my ideas and dreams I want to pursue in the future. But the more I think about my parents, the more I pity the admissions officers who probably go through about a thousand other essays about students talking about their parents and their struggles. How can I display myself as an original and interesting individual without using my parents to describe me?
Ever since I was young, I was always interested in the idea of helping people other than myself. I never knew the actual meaning of truly helping another person until October, 2010, my freshman year. My resolve for helping others sparked into a flame when I visited a church in San Jose where I experienced something that would completely change my life. At this church, there was an organization called Milal that helps take care of people with disabilities. It was in that place that I was able to learn the true meaning of helping others.
During my freshman year of high school, I started volunteering at Milal every Saturday and I began to love the work I did there. The volunteers and I would organize activities for the kids and I especially enjoyed watching them have fun and grow. All the volunteers were assigned to a specific “buddy” and took care of him or her every week. I was assigned to take care of Andrew , an autistic teenager. The moment I met my buddy, I had a hard time adjusting to his behavior due to his unpredictable fits of rage and limited vocabulary. I saw him and said “Hi Andrew!”, trying to be as affable as possible. “One minute,” he replied, not paying attention to me. I tried again, introducing myself this time, and received the same response, only louder this time. Later I learned that this is the